Luftgekühlt returns to Los Angeles - celebration of air-cooled Porsche came home to California

The popular celebration of air-cooled Porschecame home to California for its 10th edition

Luftgekühlt, the Porsche gathering created by Le Mans-winning racing driver Patrick Long, returned to Los Angeles for its 10th outing in October. Patrick, Jeff Zwart and Howie Idelson put together Luftgekühlt 8, which took place at the 1940s warehouses of CRAFTED – LA’s artisan market in Long Beach. ‘Luft’, as it’s become known, featured its trademark mix of pristine Porsche, everything from historic racers and museum-quality 911s, to more humble offerings driven by local owners.

The 2020 event was cancelled because of the pandemic, 2021 was limited in size, and so Luftgekühlt 8 proved an opportunity to quench the sizeable thirst of California’s Porsche people. The 50th anniversary of the 911 Carrera RS 2.7 couldn’t go unrecognised, while the sell-out event featured its fair share of other curios, too. A handful of endurance race winners with Le Mans, Sebring and Daytona pedigree were also on display.

“Patrick Long has such a vision for these events and I always feel like I have to up my game to support that with visuals that allow the show to live well beyond the first-person experience,” said film and photography expert Jeff. “This year we were able to highlight from the earliest 1951 split-window 356, all the way through to the 959, and into the last of the air-cooled RS models with the 993. I was very happy when we found out that we had three of the original white 1973 Carrera RS cars with the red, blue and green graphics available. The arrangement on the centre platform felt like the show stage in 1973.

“These events are lots of work for our incredible team, but when all the cars have landed and the crowd rolls in, it’s so satisfying to see how much people just enjoy wandering around with great music and cars to inspire the air-cooled story.”